NHS to trial ultra-fast brain scans that cut MRI time by 70% in £80 million dementia diagnosis push

From the Newshound archive · first published 2 October 2026.

Only 60% of dementia patients currently get a diagnosis within 18 weeks of a memory clinic referral, with many waiting more than a year — and the NHS is now trialling nine new technologies aimed at pushing that figure to 92%. An £80 million government-backed research programme, funded via UKRI, will test ultra-fast MRI scanning that slashes time in the machine from 20 minutes to just six, plus AI-powered home monitoring sensors that spot early warning signs before crises strike. The initiative also aims to cut costs and improve access in rural and coastal communities where scanner shortages are most acute.

The faster scans are led by University College London and would cut MRI session time by around 70%, easing a bottleneck that currently causes diagnoses to drag past a year.

AI home-monitoring platform Minder, developed by UK DRI's Professor David Sharp, will be rolled out to new NHS regions, using unobtrusive sensors to keep dementia patients safely at home.

Dementia kills 76,000 people a year in Britain, making it the country's biggest killer; earlier diagnosis can delay costly care needs and cut emergency admissions.